Struggling Readers Need Support
More than half of the 500 educators surveyed by the Project for Adolescent Literacy (PAL) say middle and high schools lack sufficient time and resources for effective reading interventions, according to an Education Slice brief. Rachel Manandhar, an education specialist, notes: “Many respondents indicated that they are sounding the alarms based on their experience day…
How Social-Emotional Learning Can Create a School Community
“Looking at schools across the country, I see continued challenges to the mental health and well-being of many students and school staff, exacerbated by educators’ worries about ‘saying the wrong thing’ or using the ‘wrong’ materials’,” writes Maurice J. Elias, a professor of psychology at Rutgers University and the director of the Social-Emotional and Character…
How Absenteeism Saps Teacher Morale
Chronic absenteeism among students significantly affects teacher morale, according to a recent study published in Education Researcher and reported in Education Slice. Chronic absenteeism increased from 15% before 2020 to 28% in 2023. Michael Gottfried, a co-author of the study and associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania, states: “Absenteeism pulls teachers away from that core…
Tips for Tech-Free Play Away from School
In Indianapolis, the Oaks Academy’s “Million Minutes Challenge,” engages families in the goal of collectively logging one million minutes of tech-free play while away from school — reading, playing games and engaging in creative, hands-on activities, according to the Indianapolis Recorder. Oaks Academy director of marketing and communications Brooke Reeves and parent Alicia Sanders offer…
Verbal Assessments Are an Alternative to Traditional Exams
Verbal assessments can reduce stress, improve grades and protect academic integrity, according to new research reported by Educator Online. The benefits: A more authentic and personalized assessment experience enables students to display their subject matter understanding in a less formal setting. A verbal assessment is an authentic conversation between an assessor and a student. It…
How a Rural County Tackles Student Mental Health
Born and raised in the agricultural foothills of Tulare County in California’s Central Valley, Greg Salcedo attended the only K-8 school and high school serving his rural town of about 3,000 people. Friends and family never spoke about adolescent depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress or suicide, issues that have, for decades, disproportionately affected rural, high-poverty communities…
How SEL Can Help Students Reduce Cellphone Use
While some schools have banned cellphones, a blanket ban policy can be hard to implement according to an article in Education Week. Resistance comes from both students and parents. And most educators work in schools without cellphone bans. Social-emotional learning might help by teaching students the social-emotional skills needed to help break addictive phone habits….
Use AI Thoughtfully to Alleviate Burnout
An article in eSchool News points out the benefits and pitfalls of using artificial intelligence (AI) to help reduce ever-increasing demands on students: The potential: Automate administrative tasks: By offloading repetitive tasks to AI, teachers could see real relief, freed from administrative chores that don’t require their expertise and focus more on teaching. Personalize student…
Four Fundamentals to Transform the School Experience
Preparing confident students for the future rests on four foundational promises–Joy, Connection, Growth, and Success–and educators committed to put them into practice, writes Dr. George Philhower, superintendent of Eastern Hancock Schools, a rural district east of Indianapolis, in the eSchool News. These are essentials for creating a student-centered, future-focused environment delivering the academic, social, and…
High-Dose Tutoring Helps Improve Lack of Focus and Inattention
A quarter of public school leaders reporting a “severe negative impact” on student learning due to lack of focus or inattention in the 2023-24 school year – a persistent repercussion of the pandemic — according to National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) data, as reported in K-12 Dive. The NCES School Pulse Panel surveys also…
